Disposable surgical tools, hypodermic needles, scalpel blades and other sharp implements require proper means for storing after use without risk of exposing medical personnel and patients to injury, infection or disease by improper handling, until proper disposal can be made. This is particularly true today with the rising concern of the spread of AIDS and Hepatitis B.
Although the AIDS disease is transmitted via the contacting of bodily fluids, Hepatitis B, it has been recently discovered, can be transmitted by covert percutaneous, i.e., by merely contacting the contaminated needle or implement. Recent studies have confirmed that Hepatitis B can also be transmitted by casual contact with dried blood such as that disposed on a sanitary napkin.
A few specially designed containers have been proposed for handling used needles and other sharps. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,366 (Bruno), which issued on Sep. 26, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,073 (Bruno), which issued on May 2, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,950 (Shillington), which issued on Nov. 27, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,472 (Bruno), which issued on Feb. 2, 1988. These containers are typically made out of metal, plastic or cardboard.
Other medical waste disposal containers are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,080,251 (Noack), 5,076,429 (Patrick et al.), 5,046,614 (Torres et al.), 5,046,613 (Baudry et al.), 5,024,327 (Shillington), 4,955,477 (Bruno), 4,922,597 (Ikeda et al.), 4,903,832 (Stewart), 4,867,309 (Germain), 4,863,052 (Lambert), 4,848,570 (Gosciniak), 4,842,138 (Sandel et al.), 4,804,090 (Schuh et al.), 4,715,498 (Hanifl), 4,662,516 (Baker, Sr. et al.), 4,520,926 (Nelson), 4,494,652 (Nelson et al.), 4,454,944 (Shillington et al.), 4,453,648 (Harris et al.), and 4,520,926 (Nelson).
Although such specially designed devices provide adequate results under certain circumstances, they do suffer certain disadvantages. For example, conventional metal containers are extremely costly in terms of manufacturing cost, i.e., metal containers require welding, die cutting of parts, assembly and painting. The painting also causes various environmental concerns such as disposal of the solvents and air pollution. Cardboard containers are not waterproof and therefore cannot be transported interstate due to U.S. Department of Transportation regulations on shipment of hazardous or infectious waste. Conventional plastic containers are multi-piece devices which require costly assembly and multiple plastic molds for their manufacture. Some conventional plastic containers are designed in such a way that they cause the sharps to stand on end creating a hazardous environment for subsequent health care providers and disposal personnel.
Sanitary napkins are currently disposed of together with ordinary lavatory trash. However, this will probably not be permissible within the next few years, since researchers have recently discovered that Hepatitis B can be transmitted via casual contact with dried blood. Sanitary napkins will have to be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner and probably will be subjected to similar disposal regulations currently covering other infectious or hazardous wastes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel disposal container assembly which overcomes the many disadvantages of the conventional devices. In particular, the present invention provides a single blow molded plastic disposable infectious waste container wherein the lid of the container is molded together with the container in a single mold. Thereafter, the lid is cut off from the container assembly so that it can be inverted and inserted into the elongated neck portion via the aperture to seal the medical waste within the container assembly. This single blow molded piece is extremely economical for the following reasons: (1) it is much less expensive to manufacture than conventional plastic or metal containers since it only necessitates the use of a single mold; and (2) it does not require any assembly after molding.
The present invention also provides many additional advantages which shall become apparent as described below.